Kessy, Ross Earn Silver on Olympic Sand

Becky Murdy
Assistant, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: becky.murdy@usav.org

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 14, 2011) – The U.S. beach volleyball team of Jen Kessy and April Ross captured the silver medal at the FIVB “Road to London” Visa International Test Event a women’s Olympic test event held at the iconic Horse Guards Parade in the historic heart of central London on Sunday.

The third-ranked Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) lost in the gold medal match to the surprise 19th-seeded Brazilian team of Liliane Maestrini and Angela Vieria, 10-21, 21-15, 15-13 in 49 minutes in the gold medal match.

In a packed stadium that included the Rolling Stone’s Ronnie Woods and Great Britain’s five-time Olympic Rowing gold medalist Sir Steve Redgrave, Kessy and Ross dominated the first set after the score was last tied at 4-4.

In the second set, Maestrini and Vieira jumped out to 3-0 and 4-1 leads before Kessy and Ross tied the match at 5-5, 6-6, and 7-7 before Maestrini and Vieira made difficult plays both offensively and defensively to pull away and earn the set win.

In the deciding tiebreaker set, Kessy and Ross scored first and the teams battled back and forth with four ties. At 5-5, Maestrini and Vieira moved ahead by two points. Kessy and Ross came back to tie the score at 13-13. Maestrini scored the final two points of the match on a poke shot down the line and by blocking a Ross kill.

Statistically in the gold medal match, Kessy had two aces, two blocks and 10 digs while Ross had 12 digs. Maestrini had three blocks and five digs while her teammate Vieira contributed one ace serve and 12 digs.

To advance to the final, Kessy and Ross beat Great Britain’s ninth-seeded team and local favorites, Lucy Boulton and Denise Johns in Sunday’s semifinal round, 21-13, 17-21, 15-10 in 39 minutes.

Maestrini and Vieria defeated Brazil’s fourth seeded Vivian Danielle da Conceicao Cunha and Taiana Lima in the semifinals, 22-20, 21-16 in 42 minutes.

Vivian and Taiana secured the bronze medal after defeating Boulton and Johns, 21-19, 21-18 in 39 minutes.

The silver medal gives the U.S. pair its seventh medal in the 2011 FIVB season. Kessy and Ross most recently captured the silver at Poland’s Mazury Orlen Grand Slam. The duo also won the gold medal at the Stavanger Grand Slam and the silver medal at the Shanghai Jinson Open.

“This week at Horse Guards Parade has been invaluable and a wonderful experience for the FIVB,” Technical Delegate and FIVB Beach Volleyball Commission Secretary Vicente Araujo said.

“The Visa FIVB Beach Volleyball International has provided the perfect opportunity to test a range of issues and situations which will stand us in good stead come Games time. The media and spectator interest has been impressive and of course the spectacular setting of Horse Guards Parade has been inspirational, while the legacy of the sand, which will be used to create new beach volleyball courts, is also very important to us.”

Up next for the U.S. beach teams on the 2011 FIVB Swatch World Tour will be the Paf Open in Aland, Finland. Six U.S. women’s teams and five men’s teams are scheduled to compete in the tournament slated for Aug. 15-21.

For more information about the FIVB London Olympic Test Event, click here.

Be sure to follow @usa_volleyball on twitter at www.twitter.com/usa_volleyball for live and breaking news from London.

Tags: 2011 FIVB World Tour, 2011 SWATCH World Tour, 2012 Olympic Games, April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Jennifer Kessy, mobile